|
MSNBC.com, Shire USA Inc.
One of two ads touting ADHD drug Adderall, placed with an MSNBC.com story on health risks of ADHD drugs. Ooops! (Click to see ads in context) |
Check out the display ad at the left for Adderall, a popular ADHD medication. Know where I saw it? On an MSNBC.com page, right next to a headline that reads:
ADHD update: New data on the risks of medication. Actually, it's one of two prominent Adderall ads on that page.
Here they both are, in context.
What's awry with the context? Well, here are the first two paragraphs of that article, which was syndicated from Harvard Health Publications (emphasis added):
"Medications -- chiefly the stimulants dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate -- are the only proven treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with its symptoms of distractibility, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. But the benefits of stimulants last only as long as patients continue to take them, and worries about the risks of long-term use are again in the news.
"Blood pressure and heart problems. Stimulants raise blood pressure and heart rate. New data are fueling a debate about how dangerous this is for people who take the drugs for extended periods. In 2005 Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the FDA, removed Adderall XR (an extended-release form of dextroamphetamine) from the market, citing a suspicious pattern of 20 sudden deaths and 12 strokes in children and adults taking the drug. The ban was lifted when many of these patients proved to have structural heart defects."
Hmmm... Looks like whichever contextual ad-matching system MSNBC.com uses isn't doing such a great job at gauging positive vs. negative relevance. I'll bet someone at MSNBC, or their ad service provider, will be getting a nasty e-mail from Shire US Inc., makers of Adderall.
(Thanks to Michael Kirk of Black Apple Media for the tip.)
